Pentagon Issues New Transgender Policies for Military Personnel

Legal Insurrection: Pentagon Burdens Warfighting Commanders with New Transgender Policies for Military Personnel 

New policies expand transgender procedures to the service academies, allow gender transitions while on-duty, and mandate group shower facility use by both biological sexes if certain administrative requirements are met. Oh, and military commanders are responsible to “not accommodate biases against transgender individuals” 

As RealClear Defense recently reported, on December 20, 2022 the Department of Defense issued an update to DOD Instruction 1300.28, entitled “In-Service Transition for Transgender Service Members,” which “expanded woke transgender mandates in significant ways.”

The article compares the original instruction, issued in the waning days of the Obama administration in October 2016, to the current expansion, with the aide of a study and summary compiled by the Center for Military Readiness (CMR).

Significantly, the CMR study and summary explain the significance of the changes, which fall into six major areas, and which were issued “without public debate”:

Read more .... 

WNU Editor: When you use diversity and cultural factors to prioritize who the military hires (and promotes) the impact on any military will always be the same. Military competence and combat readiness will decline.

President Trump's Transgender Ban Halted By Defense Secretary General Mattis Pending Review

President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary James Mattis at Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Virginia, U.S. July 22, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

FOX News: Mattis freezes Trump ban on transgender troops pending review

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Tuesday night that the Pentagon's current policy on transgender troops "will remain in place" while President Trump's directive banning transgender people from joining the military undergoes an expert study.

The move by Mattis allows transgender people to continue serving openly in the military while the Pentagon considers whether to discharge them in light of Trump's order.

In a statement, Mattis said that Trump's directive would be reviewed by a panel of experts from the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security.

"Once the panel reports its recommendations and following my consultation with the secretary of Homeland Security, I will provide my advice to the president concerning implementation of his policy direction," Mattis said.

Read more ....

More News On President Trump's Transgender Ban Being Halted By Defense Secretary General Mattis Pending Review

Transgender members in U.S. military may serve until study completed - Mattis -- Reuters
Mattis allows transgender troops to serve as Pentagon studies Trump's ban -- Politico
Transgender troops in military can continue to serve for now, Mattis says -- CBS
Mattis: Transgender troops can keep serving pending study -- The Hill
Mattis Freezes Trump’s Transgender Ban Pending Further Review by People Other Than the President -- Slate
Trump's transgender ban halted by Defense Secretary General Mattis -- The Independent
Mattis announces panel to analyze transgender military guidance -- CNN

President Trump Announces That The U.S. Will Not 'Accept or Allow' Transgenders In The Military

....Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming.....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017

Herscel Smith, Captain's Journal: Trump Bans Transgenders In Military

NYT:

President Trump announced on Wednesday that the United States will not “accept or allow” transgender people in the United States military, saying American forces “must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory” and could not afford to accommodate them.

Mr. Trump made the surprise declaration in a series of posts on Twitter, saying he had come to the decision after talking to generals and military experts, whom he did not name.

“After consultation with my generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. military,” Mr. Trump wrote. “Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail.”

The sweeping policy decision reverses the gradual transformation of the military under President Barack Obama, whose administration announced last year that transgender people could serve openly in the military. Mr. Obama’s defense secretary, Ashton B. Carter, also opened all combat roles to women and appointed the first openly gay Army secretary.

Note how he has couched this – very smartly, in my opinion. We cannot afford to accommodate them.

That’s how the Marine Corps sees everything. If you come into the Marines left-eye dominate, they put a patch over your left eye (for a while) and reprogram you to be right-eye dominate. I know this because my son did this to his “boots” who were left eye-dominate.

They don’t even accept left handed shooting. They value sameness and likeness above everything. Everything. If you don’t like that, then go find your warfighting capabilities somewhere else. There’s a right way to do this, and the Marine Corps has found it.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: I first posted this story on my "Military and Intelligence News Briefs" post this morning .... and decided to leave it at that. For me it is not an important story .... IMHO there are far more important stories out there to follow and post on. But since then the media has gone into melt-down mode, and for many this is a very important story (both pro and against) .... so here is a post on the topic (from the New York Times/MSNBS/and a post from the Captain's Journal), and I am going to leave it at that.

Pentagon Issues An Implementation Handbook For Transgenders In The U.S. Military

Washington Times: Pentagon issues handbook on sex change in the ranks

Political correctness remains a central characteristic of the Obama administration’s policies. Take the Pentagon’s new anti-discrimination policy on what a newly-published handbook calls “gender dysphoria,” or “the distress that some transgender individuals experience due to a mismatch between their gender and their sex assigned at birth.”

Under the new policies, military commanders are now responsible for approving or denying sex changes for troops who self-identify as the opposite sex, according to the 72-page handbook, “Transgender Service in the U.S. Military: An Implementation Handbook,” published Sept. 30.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: This is not your grandfather's military.

Pentagon Lifts The Ban On Transgender Serving In The Military

L.A. Times: U.S. military to allow transgender men and women to serve openly

In a historic move, the Pentagon on Thursday lifted its ban on allowing transgender men and women to serve openly in the military.

The announcement at the Pentagon by Defense Secretary Ashton Carter follows extensive study by the U.S. military to remove one of the last discriminatory hurdles for military service, treating gender identity on par with race, religion, color, sex or sexual orientation.

“Our mission is to defend this country, and we don’t want barriers unrelated to a person’s qualification to serve preventing us from recruiting or retaining the soldier, sailor, airman or Marine who can best accomplish the mission,” Carter said. “We have to have access to 100% of America’s population for our all-volunteer force to be able to recruit from among them the most highly qualified -- and to retain them.”

Read more ....

WNU Editor: Even though there are wars that are now happening around the world where scores of U.S. troops are in danger .... this is the important news from the Pentagon and from the US Defense Secretary today.

More News On The Pentagon Lifting The Ban On Transgenders Serving In The Military

Transgender People Will Be Allowed to Serve Openly in Military -- New York Times
Pentagon ends ban on transgender troops in military -- AP
Ban on transgender servicemembers repealed -- Stars and Stripes
Pentagon ends transgender ban -- CNN
US military lifts ban on transgenders serving openly -- FOX News
Pentagon lifts ban on transgender troops -- USA Today
Pentagon Lifts Ban on Transgender Service Members Serving Openly -- NBC
US military lifts transgender ban -- BBC
US military ends ban on transgender service members -- The Guardian
US military transgender ban lifted immediately after year-long review -- The Independent
Pentagon allows transgender people to serve openly -- Inside Defense
The U.S. Military's Welcome for Transgender Troops -- Marina Koren, The Atlantic
Here are the new rules for transgender troops -- Military Times

Pentagon To Allow Transgenders To Serve Openly In The Military

Washington Post: Military to allow transgender members to serve openly

The Pentagon announced Monday that it will allow transgender members of the military to serve openly starting next year, marking an end to a long-standing policy that barred them from the armed forces.

In an echo of the Defense Department’s repeal of the ban on gays in uniform four years ago, Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter said he had directed the armed forces to devise new rules over the next six months that would allow transgender troops to serve, except in situations “where objective, practical impediments are identified.”

“We must ensure that everyone who’s able and willing to serve has the full and equal opportunity to do so, and we must treat all our people with the dignity and respect they deserve,” Carter said in a statement. He called the military’s current regulations “outdated” and said they were “causing uncertainty that distracts commanders from our core missions.”

Update #1: Pentagon announces plan to lift ban on transgender individuals serving in military -- FOX News/AP
Update #2: U.S. military considers lifting ban on transgender service members -- UPI

WNU Editor: This is not your grandfather's military anymore.

Lawmakers Want Transgenders To Be Able To Openly Serve In The U.S. Military

The Hill: Momentum grows to scrap Pentagon's ban on transgender troops

There is renewed energy on Capitol Hill to lift the Defense Department's ban on transgender troops.

Lawmakers view recent steps by the Pentagon and some of the armed services to expand protections for gay and lesbian troops as an opportunity to do away with the decades-old prohibition on allowing transgender troops to serve openly.

They are also taking note of other societal changes in calling for the ban on service by transgender trips to be lifted.

“In politics, I think it’s always appropriate to take advantage of timing. Whether it’s taking down the Confederate flag or creating equality in the military for transgender persons,” said Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.).

Update: U.S. Defense Department comes under increased pressure from lawmakers to scrap the ban on transgender troops -- Daily Mail

WNU Editor: No debate on how this will impact the effectiveness of the military or the morale of its soldiers who are presently serving .... to put it bluntly .... I doubt that these lawmakers even care. Sighhh .... this is not your grandfather's military anymore.

Report: The U.S. Military Should Admit Transgender Americans If They Want To Serve

Commission: 'No Compelling Medical Reason' For US Military Transgender Ban -- The Guardian

* US armed forces prohibit transgender Americans from serving
* Group: Obama could lift ban without Congress’s approval

An independent commission led by a former US surgeon general has concluded there “is no compelling medical reason” for the US armed forces to prohibit transgender Americans from serving and that President Barack Obama could lift the decades-old ban without approval from Congress, according to a report being released Thursday.

The report said department of defense regulations designed to keep transgender people from joining or remaining in the military on the grounds of psychological and physical unfitness are based on outdated beliefs that require thousands of current service members either to leave the service or to forego the medical procedures and other changes that could align their bodies and gender identities.

Read more ....

More News On The Report That Advocates That The U.S. Military Should Admit Transgender Americans From Serving

Commission Finds ‘No Compelling Medical Reason’ To Exclude Transgender Americans From Military -- CBS/AP
Ban on transgender troops comes under scrutiny after soldier, 41, stationed in Kuwait is put on leave for transitioning to live as a woman -- Daily Mail
Expert commission to President Obama: Drop the military’s bigoted ban on transgender service members -- Salon
Fight to let transgender soldiers serve -- MSNBC

My Comment: This is not your grandpa's army anymore. As to the person who headed this report .... former Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders has an interesting history.

Wow ... even former President Clinton found her to be too much. Here is an easy prediction .... this is going to be the next big U.S. military story for the news media to push for the next few months/years.